Wissanu defends civil suit against Boonsong, 5 others
Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam defended the integrity of the civil liability lawsuit filed against former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom and five others, saying that since the case’s statute of limitations is only two years, the government had no cho
The six members of the |previous government are being sued and face asset seizure over damages incurred from fake government-to-government rice deals.
Boonsong had said earlier that the due process of law was absent in his case because Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had invoked special powers under Article 44 to order asset seizure while a related criminal case was still pending in the Supreme Court.
The former minister is being sued for Bt1.7 billion of the Bt20 billion sought by the government for damages from the bogus contracts signed by the previous administration to allegedly sell 6.2 million tonnes of Thai rice to China.
Wissanu said yesterday that the compensation lawsuit had been filed under the state officials’ civil liability law, so it was different from criminal cases pending in the Supreme Court and will take some time before a verdict is issued.
Under the civil liability law, the cases against Boonsong and five others will expire on February 16 or 17, 2017.
The deputy premier also defended the use of absolute power under the interim charter’s Article 44, saying that in this case the Administrative Court still has the final say if the defendants seek an injunction on the government’s asset seizure order.
Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn, meanwhile, said she was not worried by Boonsong’s threat to file counter-suits against her for going ahead with the executive order to seize his assets.
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